#I've since realised I'm a lesbian lol but the point is that it's okay if your life experiences impact your interpretations!

[seanleannan]

Some thoughts I had yesterday while seventeen women from my extended family were at my house for tea

For context, apart from my immediate family (parents and three siblings), only three of my cousins and one aunt know that I'm a lesbian, only my three siblings know I'm asexual, and only two of my siblings know that I don't fully identify as a woman anymore.

For the first time in my life, I am fully and completely okay with a) not being in a relationship and b) knowing that I don't need to have a romantic connection with someone to feel fulfillment in my life (this is a very nice feeling). Since I figured out my asexuality (largely in part to reading AFTG at the start of this year), I had brief feelings of grief and loss over the life I had always assumed I would grow up to have (the life I was conditioned to have I suppose), like the white-picket-fence-husband-and-kids kind of thing. And I had a lot of internalised homophobia (shout out to Catholic guilt) that I spent a really long time working through only to then be faced with being asexual. My attitudes to sex before realising I was asexual was sort of "I guess I'll have sex eventually and I probably won't like it, the idea of it scares me but everyone does it so I'll just do it at some point and get it over with" (not a healthy perspective). Also, so many of my peers were having sex and talking about it constantly to the point where I really internalised that having a romantic connection with someone meant you HAD to have sex with them (sex just became equal to love in a way), so I began to dread any time I would try dating because I had this existential fear that at some point, I was going to have to have sex. And then I had the realisation that, oh wait, I actually DONT. And that was fucking amazing lol, my asexuality wasn't hard for me to accept, but I didn't tell many people because I think the majority of people don't really understand it. Plus, I'm still in the process of figuring out what it actually means for me.

Anyway, I was talking to my cousin about relationships and I mentioned that I'm no longer dead-set on finding a romantic relationship because I've found enough fulfillment with the love I have for my family and friends (if it happens, it happens, but I'm just nof actively looking for it). Then I mentioned that I don't want to have kids anymore, and she was so shocked, mainly because growing up, I'd always said I wanted to be a mum. But anyway, other people joined the conversation, and it all boiled down to the fact that everyone assumes I'm going to change my mind again and decide I want kids. Which is so frustrating because there's so much more to it than me just saying I don't want kids, but I didn't want to out myself in front of everyone so I just had to laugh it off. All of the arguments were "Oh, but you love kids, you're so good with kids," which, yes. I love kids, and I am good with kids, but that doesn't mean I'm automatically obligated to procreate. Also, the thought of being pregnant is incredibly dysphoric, and I hate the idea of my body being inhabited and relied upon by something that isn't me.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that making choices regarding relationships, marriage and children that aren't considered conventional wherever you live is such a difficult and exhausting thing to do, but at the end of the day, I'd much rather regret NOT having kids than having kids.

[ao3-elle1991]

jumping on the ama fearless thing!!!

i would like to thank you once again, for writing this fan ficition. it means so much to me, i actually told my therapist about this piece of work and how precious it is to me. i love everything about it (maybe except for maria's plot bc i hc her as lesbian but it's okay). i can't even tell you how many times i've read this fic (and cried) because i lost the count. i also remember that by the time i was reading it for the first time, i was labelling myself as ace and it meant so much to me to see my comfort character being the same. man, i'm babbling right now but i just want you to know how MUCH this work means to me. this fic is like a safe space to me, i read it whenever i feel bad, so i can get my mind off things. so yes. thank you so much for elena, for james, for all of the stories from mcu natasha's life i wanted to read about ever since i was 9, for the good laugh as well as crying.

my question is: have you thought about writing something new, familiar to fearless, or rewriting it after watching black widow, since there are some new bits of her story?

sending lots of love

fearless biggest stan at this point i guess lol

Hello and thank you so much for your really beautiful message, it actually brought a tear to my eye ❤

I'm incredibly touched that my Black Widow origin story Fearless means so much to you, and that it is your safe space to retreat to when life feels hard.

I'm very happy that you find joy in Natasha's journey in Fearless, and in the original characters like Elena and James who were her family, maybe not genetically, but in every way that matters.

Fearless is, above all, a story about keeping going through the hard times, of persevering, of writing your own story in life, of free will, and of keeping the goodness in your heart even when we're surrounded by terrible adversity.

Natasha so easily could have become cruel or bitter, either through her brainwashing by the Red Room Academy, or at the realisation of how unfair her life had been when she finally tasted freedom and realised how much had been taken from her for all those years.

But Natasha held onto her humanity and kindness, she kept going, and if you feel like Fearless gives you the strength to do the same, I just want to say something: the strength you have is 100% you ❤

Turning to your question, I'm considering writing another story in the Fearless universe, looking at what happens to her soul after she sacrifices herself on Vormir (so yes, we may see Elena and James again!) 😱

Thank you for your kind words and lovely message! I hope you find this answer interesting 😘 Feel free to message me if you want to chat more Fearless or anything else - or if you don't feel comfortable but still have questions, anonymous ask is cool too, no pressure! Take care ❤

[fizzyeggg]

i should really actually post my art on this site either way i'll still answer this lol

1. ms paint, used to use it before i moved to aseprite, paint.net kinda counts but i do use it sometimes because the magic wand tool in it is cool

2. left or right is equally easy for me, but forward? hhGRGAAAAAAAAA

3. i like to remaster a lot of really really old drawings i made on ms paint (because i got a computer wayyyy too early), only one i can think of off the top of my head is the mushroom guys

4. humans are just bitches to draw in general. hate those things

5. i keep literally all of it to myself

6. adventure time's art style tends to creep into some of my stuff, also eyes are a weird motif in a lot of my art that i just kinda throw in because it's the first cool pattern i can think of

7. sculpting man... HOW do they do that?? i've tried it before but i can't touch clay without proceeding to just squish and knead it for an hour instead of making anything of value

8. oh i got a ton of those. deltarune missing link (the discarded vessel having spooky shenanigans in the void), a deltarune swap AU i came up with where papyrus switches with susie, rouxls switches with ralsei and other stuff, deltascryption (deltarune/inscryption crossover spritecomic) so mostly deltarune stuff. sorry deltarune

9. batshit insane. i crawl to my computer like a dying rat and sift through hundreds of files titled shit like "743567hgrgh", "cheese" and "glumbo go glumbo go glumbo go" only to find the one i was looking for, titled "scrunk table" which is just a bunch of pvz fanart

10. i hate drawing clothes, but overalls are fun i guess

11. usually my playlist filled with STRANGE and EVIL music, but this board game podcast my dad listens to (called ludology) is also nice

12. most of the human body sucks but can i choose bug body parts?? a thorax or abdomen perchance?? pretty please?

13. this is hard to answer since most creators i admire are My Thing so instead i'll say My Thing is absolutely whatever the hell bep/anne and squimpus mcgrimpus' vibe is, their art is the goofiest coolest shit and i love it so so much

14. EYES EYES EYES EYES EYES EYES

15. in my cave, on the puter

16. i don't really know tbh, my motivation for anything is because it's fun

17. i mean if i happen to have food there yeah. which i usually do, and it's usually dried fruit, nuts and/or cheese because i have the diet of a pet rat

18. HAH!! GET A LOAD OF THIS GUY!!! THINKS A DIGITAL ARTIST CAN "BREAK THEIR ART SUPPLIES" HAH!!!! (i have accidentally snapped a drawing tablet in half once please don't ask)

19. impossible triangles man... i care them

20. BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS

21. as a pixel artist i really like people who can pull off 1 bit / two colour stuff and i do want to try it at some point

22. NONE!!! (my dyspraxia grows worse by the second)

23. i have artist friends who draw normal, sane digital art and cry as they realise they've drawn on layer #7769 instead of layer #5443. they work on a new inch of their drawing and open up another layer, catapulting the total into the millions. as their tired eyes look upon me, they ask "hey how many layers do you use" my face contorts into an evil smirk "ONE" they cower and scream at my raw power

24. yeah, i probably don't notice though

25. okay... d-dwarf fortress?? it's all CHARACTERS what do they MEAN by this

26. okay so i was drawing my evil lesbian lady "Dr. E. Vile" and she has a bunch of arms with cartoon gloves on them i have no idea how five separate friends of mine said "I like her chef hat" THEY ARE GLOVES WHERE DID IT ALL GO SO WROOOONGG

27. my warm up drawings tend to be me going "time to draw the Thing", and immediately creating the most wretched abomination known to man, so abhorrent in its anatomy that i have to start over entirely

28. nope. too much pressure man WAIT I WAS IN A RAIN WORLD THING https://youtu.be/jBu7gOwtYSY?t=1628 LOOK MA I'M ON TV

29. this is a weird way to answer the question, but i DESPARATELY want to draw in a similar weird and 'unfinished' type of style that stuff like yume nikki, ENA and INTERFACE have it's just that i have no idea how to actually emulate it, like how to create that specific uncanny/eccentric vibe well

30. hahahahahahahahaha (they all are)

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

[ryanthedemiboy]

I'm just gonna answer these because fuck it, I'm here and I'm queer and I'm gonna ....uhhh... word that rhymes with queer.

1. Besides myself, whoever was my closest friend at the time. I've come out so many times for a handful of different things as I discovered myself, so... [shrug emoji]

2. Laura Jane Grace. I don't vary what I listen to much, but I recently started listening to Against Me! And holy shit I wish I'd done so sooner. I'm sure there are plenty more but my brain is mush after a long day of being productive.

3. Queer and... it's complicated. For simplicity, I generally say trans man or nonbinary guy. If you want the run down, check out my about, because it's a lot to type.

4. All of the actually lgbt/queer icons, tbh, but David Bowie. Who was bisexual, btw.

5. I do not have any kind of partner, or even a friend in real life that I see. Lmao

6. I'm always questioning, honestly. But with sexuality, it is funny because I've always been into girls (bear in mind here that I had forgotten I was a guy at this point, due to family), and actually slept with over two dozen girls before I found out there was a name (names!) for people into same-gender folks. First I identified as bi, then pan, then lesbian, then a bit of a confusing phase because I realised I was... okay, first I realised i was agender, but I didn't know you could be multiple genders.

Anyway, I had to reevaluate my sexuality because I wasn't a girl (and I had again suppressed and promptly forgot that I was a guy). But it was at that point I realised that I liked some guys too, as well as nonbinary and agender folks.

After six or seven months, queer felt really good to me. I didn't know it was a sexuality, just thought it was a mean word, til then.

Gender has been a slow understanding. And I'm still learning. But I remember telling my mom I was a guy when I was either three or four, now.

7. Harry Potter. The whole series is so damn queer <3

8. I think green.

9. I would if I could. I'm mostly bedridden, so I'm kinda... stuck. I am in a few discord chats though?

A trans support group would be nice.

10. I have not. I'm autistic, so honestly it would be stressful as fuck. And I'm afraid to go alone, and at the time, my only queer friends were closeted (they still are, they're just not my friends)

11. I am actually developing my own queer flag, because I don't like the ones out there. But I LOVE that the trans flag has the white stripe specifically for nonbinary folks.

12. @greymichaela and @assignedmale , though I love lots of other lgbt/queer writers and artists.

13. I live with tr*mp supporters. Need I say more?

14. I don't have the money for new clothes and all of mine are feminine and/or have holes in them lol. I mean, I have some money, but because I'm a short guy, I need them hemmed. And I can't sew anymore lol. So uh... it's $10/pair. Lmao. Anyway.

Ideally, it would be a mix of formal and punk. Mostly I just man bun it up, since it's all I can do.

15. Definitely more beneficial. I just block the t*rfs, radf*ms, and exclusionists, as well as any homophobes, transphobes, nbphobes, biphobes, queerphobes, etcetcetc.

I have become so much more informed through Tumblr, in many ways (both good and bad), and have become a better person for it.

16. All of them? Um. My brain is not providing me with any besides trans lifeline, which is shitty af.

17. Functonal disaster.

18. John Barrowman. I love him. XD <3

I don't really watch movies, because my attention span makes it a huge struggle. It usually takes me six to ten sessions to watch a 90 minute movie. Also i can't really sit up, so I haven't seen love, Simon.

So... RENT I guess. I absolutely loved it, and before I watched it, I researched the AIDS epidemic, so it really hit me hard. It was so good. 10/10

19. Hell no. They claim to be, but they're tolerant at best.

20. See the orthopedic specialist and hopefully figure out what's wrong with my back so I can get money from the insurance company and get my hysterectomy.

asks for pride month baybies!

1. Who did you first come out to, if anyone?

2. Favorite LGBT singer/instrumentalist?

3. What’s your gender + orientation?

4. Who’s the best Gay Icon™?

5. Do you have a partner?

6. How long did your questioning process take (if you’re not still going through it)?

7. What movie/video game/TV shows have you stolen from the straights?

8. What’s your favorite color?

9. Do you go to a support/pride group?

10. Have you ever been to a pride event?

11. What’s your favorite thing about your flag(s)?

12. Favorite LGBT artist/writer?

13. How often do you get tired of The Straights?

14. How do you express your sexuality/gender?

15. Has Tumblr been more harmful of beneficial to you when it comes to discussing LGBT issues or figuring yourself out?

16. What LGBT charities/organizations do you support?

17. Distinguished, functional, or disaster?

18. Favorite LGBT film or actor?

19. Is your current environment supportive?

20. What are your plans for this June?